Has Your Company Made Efforts to Fight Book Bans?

AI policies and book bans

The most discussed topics in publishing this year have been how the industry is dealing with—or preparing to deal with— the impact of generative AI, as well as the ongoing fight over book banning.

A slight majority of survey respondents said their companies have made efforts to combat book banning and other forms of censorship, while 26% said their companies have taken no initiatives.

Given the chance to comment on book banning, more than half of respondents provided examples of what their companies were doing to fight the bans. One of the most common responses was that their companies were working with a number of organizations such as the American Library Association, the Association of American Publishers, the National Coalition Against Censorship, and PEN America in support of their anticensorship efforts. Another common response was to continue to publish the works that are currently being banned and to continue to publish authors whose books face the possibility of being banned in the future. In something of a corollary to that sentiment, one respondent said their company stands against “requests from employees to cease distribution of any title they don’t agree with.”

A respondent from a large publisher said an action the company has taken is to offer favorable terms to bookstores on books from their imprints that are being challenged, as well as those from their distribution clients. In that same vein, numerous respondents said their companies create a variety of resources for authors, bookstores, and libraries to use to fight challenges.

One respondent summarized why fighting book banning is essential to the entire publishing community. “Our company is dedicated to publishing precisely the books that are being banned,” they wrote. “Our continued existence depends on the fight against censorship and banning.”

In terms of AI, nearly one-third of respondents said they didn’t know if their companies were using AI in any capacity, while 45% said their companies were not using the technology. Of the 23% who said their companies have implemented AI, 47% said they were using it in a marketing capacity and 25% said they were using it in editorial.

The PW survey was fielded over the summer, and given the technology’s rapid evolution, it is likely more companies have added AI since then. Because AI is so new, the industry members who responded offered mixed comments about it. On the plus side, they pointed to AI’s ability to reduce mundane tasks, improve workflow, and aid in identifying trends. On the negative side, they said they are worried about copyright issues, job losses, and the loss of the “human touch” in various parts of the publishing process. ■